Restoring Habitats
The Peak District is a special landscape, where people come to escape, relax and feel close to nature. But nature is in crisis in the Park.
We want to see more land managed for nature, more rare habitats protected, and better connected habitats to create bigger, more sustainable areas, allowing nature to thrive.
Around 86% of the Peak District is used for agriculture with around 3,000 farms of different sizes, approaches, species and habitats. That is why, in everything we do, we support working with local farmers to deliver for nature.
Trees
Woodland cover in the Peak District is only 8%, mostly concentrated in the dales and in valleys of the Dark Peak. This is significantly lower than the national average of 13% and the average for all English National Parks of 16.7%. It is due to our history of agriculture and drainage, combined with the impact of ash dieback and Dutch elm disease.
Furthermore, the White Peak is one of the most significant ash-dominated landscapes in Europe – it has been estimated that the White Peak is home to c9 million ash trees. Our trees are being decimated by ash dieback disease, the most significant tree disease to affect the UK since Dutch elm disease. It is estimated that we will lose 90% of our ash trees, significantly affecting the landscape and biodiversity of our Park.
It is vital that we act now to protect and improve existing woodlands, increase trees, hedgerows and scrub cover in our Park, and respond to the ash dieback crisis. We are working with the Peak District National Park Authority to raise funds to provide advice and support for farmers to ensure these habitats are protected and increased.
Grasslands
Traditionally managed hay meadows and pastures are some of our most biodiverse habitats – the best hay meadows have more than 50 different plant species. Thanks to the amazing array of flowers, a wide range of insects feast in these areas, including bees, butterflies and moths that are in sharp decline.
Species-rich grasslands store huge amounts of carbon in their soils, and, when managed well, can lock in as much carbon as wood. Yet this is vulnerable to disturbance. Research by the Wildlife Trusts revealed that between 1990 and 2006, conversion from grassland to arable production released 14 million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere.
Sadly, meadows have become a much rarer habitat in the UK since the middle of the 20th century, due to changes in farming practice and developments. Surveys in the Peak District show a 50% loss of flower-rich meadows in the decade following the mid-1980s, and a significant decline in the range of plant species. These species-rich grasslands now only cover 5% of the Peak District, mostly on steeper slopes where agriculture is not practical.
We are working with the Peak District National Park Authority to raise funds to protect and restore existing species-rich grasslands, create new areas of grassland across the Park, and provide vital advice and support for farmers to ensure these important habitats have a long-term place in the landscape.
Ponds
There are over 5,000 ponds in the Peak District, with around 2,000 supporting an array of rare animals and plants, including at-risk great crested newts. Many of these are dewponds, dug in the 19th century by farmers as a watering hole for livestock, and are a vital part of the landscape of the White Peak.
Healthy dewponds are havens for wildlife. Yet, over many decades and with changes in farming practices and the arrival of invasive species, many of these havens have fallen into disrepair or have been lost completely to the wildlife that need them most. With climate change bringing hotter summers, ponds have a vital role to play in providing habitats and a source of water for wildlife.
We are working with the Peak District National Park Authority to raise funds to transform derelict dewponds back into wildlife havens and create a robust network of ponds to respond to our changing climate.
Wildlife Corridors
Wildlife corridors are essential for connecting habitats and preserving biodiversity in a fragmented environment, particularly where habitats have been separated for agricultural, residential and commercial expansion. These corridors connect up our wild spaces so that species are able to access enough food, rest, find mates, and reproduce. They also provide refuge for migrating species. Wildlife corridors can vary but include hedges, field margins, road verges and dry-stone walls.
The habitats of the White Peak are some of the most fragmented within an English national park. The Peak District has experienced significant loss of field margins, which have been replaced with wire fences.
Although the White Peak dales hold the largest concentration of ravine woodland in Britain, landscape connectivity across the plateau between the dales is poor. There is on average just 2% tree cover and few field margins and hedgerows for wildlife to move between woodland.
We are working with the Peak District National Park Authority to raise funds to connect up the nature-rich dales of the White Peak and provide space for many species to move across the farmland that covers the grassland plateau.